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Sunday, April 5, 2015

ANCIENT CITY OF LOTHAL

A reimagining of life in Lothal 4,000 years ago, satellite images of the town in context of today's landscape, and the discoverer, S. R. Rao's drawings of the town plan, bead factory and warehouse (6 images total). "While exploring the Sabarmati estuary an ancient mound presently known as Lothal was discovered in November, 1954," wrote S. R. Rao. "The excavation conducted here during the following seven years has brought to light the existence of a flourishing port-city of the Indus Civilization with an excellent brick-built dock and nearly laid-out streets. One comes across at Lothal the same regimentation in town planning, the same sophisticated system of public sanitation, the use of the same types of metal tools and lithic implements, the adoption of the same pictographic writing ons tone-cut seals ad the prevalence of the same artistic traditions as are noticed in the Indus cities. But underlying this homogeneity certain regional variations sufficiently indicative of originality of ideas are becoming increasingly clear from the excavations at Lothal, Rangpur and other Harappan sites in Kathiawar." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, 1973, p. 2).

"The two major sectors of the city are the Acropolis and the Lower Town, the former comprising Blocks B, C and D, and the latter Blocks A, E, F, and G. While Block A formed the main bazaar and Block B was occupied by the ruler, the warehouse was built in Block C. The artisans, famers and merchants lived in the reamining blocks." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 62).

"The warehouse built in Block C occupies the southwest corner of the Acropolis. This impressive building stands on a 4 metre-high platform covering a floor area of 1930 square metres. Originally it supported 64 cubical blocks of mud-bricks each 3.6 metres square on plan and 1 metre high, serving as a base for a wooden canopy erected for protecting the cargo against sun and rain." (S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 66).

"A mud-brick structure consisting of a central courtyard and elven rooms of varying sizes was built in Block F on the western flank of the Acropolis. It served as a bead factory where several lapidaries worked together on a central platform and lived in the rooms built around it. A couple of store-rooms and a guard room were also provided within the factory premises." ((S.R. Rao, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, p. 68)